As of July 1, 2025, a total of 14,820 foreign nationals are officially working in Kazakhstan with permits issued by local executive authorities, according to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, Zakon.kz reports.
Breakdown by employment categories:
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562 individuals are top executives and their deputies (Category 1),
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2,340 are heads of departments (Category 2),
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4,060 are specialists (Category 3),
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1,167 are skilled workers (Category 4),
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2,874 are employed in seasonal jobs,
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3,817 arrived through corporate transfers.
Currently, 1,882 employers in Kazakhstan are using foreign labor. These companies also employ over 352,000 Kazakh citizens, accounting for 96% of the total workforce at these enterprises.
The largest number of foreign workers are concentrated in the following sectors:
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Construction – 5,160 workers,
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Agriculture, forestry, and fishing – 2,902 workers,
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Mining and quarrying – 1,347 workers,
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Manufacturing – 1,178 workers.
The majority of foreign workers come from:
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China – 5,463 people,
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Uzbekistan – 2,477 people,
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India – 1,097 people,
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Turkey – 1,071 people.
The Ministry explained that to protect the domestic labor market, Kazakhstan annually sets and distributes a quota for attracting foreign specialists.
For 2025, the quota was initially set at 0.2% of the national labor force, equivalent to 14,800 permits. However, in response to regional requests, the quota was increased to 16,500 permits by ministerial order in March.
Additionally, the Ministry recently reported that as of July 1, 2025, 3,916 citizens received special social benefits for long-term employment in hazardous working conditions.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
July 30б 2025